..> wrote:
> >>I could see if he's still got any blades left. He doesn't have
access to the sealed-atmosphere workshop at uni any more... Seealed
suit, sealed workshop, external air supply, being really careful. But
> >>lovely results. ;)
>
> Why was it necessary to be so careful making them? Are the materials
toxic or something?
>
> Presumably (since your mate was doing this for an Ancient History
course) this form of bronze was made by some people back in the old
days, how did they handle the safety aspects - or did these specialist
redsmiths regularly keel over from heavy metal poisoning at a young
age?
Yes they are. He was making them of beryllium bronze, not the bronze
of the original makers, because I'd told him it was a tough resilient
metal that will take an edge and not corrode. It's used in ship
propellors.
Beryllium dust is extremely dangerous. The metal itself is fine.
For his degree, all he needed was the form and fittings; the metal
didn't matter as long as it looked like bronze. His lecturer didn't
know the difference, anyway... ;)
Paul